There's a bit of a back story, so be patient with me. But I promise - the outcome is a good one.

A few weeks ago we received Scotty's school pictures. They broke my heart. I mean, totally, completely ripped my heart right of out my chest cavity and them stomped on it while on the ground. My smiley, happy, ham-my toddler was staring blankly at the camera with a look of confusion behind his eyes. I knew in an instant that he was not happy he was having his picture taken, and he missed his momma. (a common theme at preschool despite that it's now November). I could barely stand to look at the photos because it caused me to tear up, so I left them face-down on a counter for several days. This actually turned out to be helpful, because on the back of the envelope, there were instructions in the event you wanted a retake.

Retake? Yes, please!

Fast forward to last night. We were sitting down to dinner and due to a mostly disastrous trip to Costco, I had poured myself the last little bit of this really good Zin from Northern California. For whatever reason, when I finished the last sip during dinner, Scotty suddenly yelled, "Momma drank all da beer!" Brian was so overcome that he silently pounded the table as he quaked with laughter. His reaction, of course, only fueled the Bear, so Scotty kept shouting "Momma drank all da beer!" over and over again until I shot both of them dirty looks and got up to start the dishes. Boys.

And now, today. Today was Picture Retake Day. Scotty and I stood in line nervously as we watched all of the other kids pose. Was he going to smile? Was he going to protest? He looked worried, too, and clutched his ladybug closely. Finally, when it was our turn, I stood behind the photographer and tried to get him to smile. He looked only nervous and unsure of himself. "Cheese!" wasn't working, as were funny noises or bad dance moves. Finally, inspired, I told him, "Say 'da-da'!" thinking that he smiles whenever he thinks about Brian.

And so, Scotty burst into a giant smile and promptly yelled, "Momma drank all da beer!" to the mostly silent gymnasium and the startled faces of the rest of the school. I think it was still echoing when I was dragging him out by his ear.